blyth



C. E. BLYTH.

TRANSFERENCE 0F LOOSE MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18. I918- Patented Dec. 2,1919.

gSHEETS-SHEET I.

C. E. BLYTH.

TRANSFERENCE 0F LOOSE MATERIAL.

AP PLICATION FILED SEPT. I8. 1918.

Patented Dec. 2, 1919.

.2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATS PATENT, FFTCE. 1

CHARLES EDWARD BLYTIL OF STOCKTON, ENGLAND.

TRANSFERENOE OF LOOSE MATERIAL.

Original application filed May 9, 1917, Serial No. 167,590. Divided and this application filed September 18,

specification of Letters Patent.

1918. Serial No. 254,669.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES Enwnn BLYTH, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Stockton, in the county of Warwick, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in the Transfer ence of Loose Material, of which the fol.- lowing is a specification.

The fundamental principle involved in the present invention is that of inertia, the material to be moved being given a certain velocity and direction suflicient to traject or throw it in a continuous stream the desired distance against the force of gravitation.

This invention is a division of my copending application for Letters Patent of the United States for improvements in apparatus for the transference of loose material, filed May 9, 1917, Serial No. 167,590.

Broadly stated, the invention consists in feeding the material between high speed, parallel surfaces arranged in yielding contact and having velocities of the same magnitude and direction. i

The said parallel surfaces comprise an} endless belt and a drum or pulley rotating in contact therewith, the peripheral speed of the pulley being equal in magnitude and i direction to that of the belt.

It is known, in connection with conveyor belts, to emplo asecond belt runmng parallel to the conveyer and engaging the material so as to prevent slip on the belt, and

enable the conveyer to lift material up steep mchnes. My lnventlon, in contradlstmction to such arrangements, seeks to dispense with long conveyers and traject or throw loose material to considerable distances.

It is found that when loose material, such as the debris of quarries, broken coal, grain and similar granular materials of uniform or varying coarseness, is fed continually between two such high speed surfaces, it is thrown or trajected thereby in a continuous stream to a considerable distance which depends in any given instance upon the speed of the surfaces, the angle of delivery and the nature of the material. For example, it was found experimentally that with a surface speed of 2,000 feet per minute and a delivery angle of 30 to the horizontal, the

a continuous stream a distance of approxivery much improved data having been recorded. v

The pulley is preferably flanged and bears upon the upper run of the belt, said flanges forming therewith suitable feeding and delivery chutes.

In order that the angle of delivery may be varied at will to comply with any given conditions provision may be made for adjustment for the belt centers and of the position of the pulley relatively to the belt surface. The belt may conveniently be the driving belt from the motor or other source of power.

Where the said parallel surfaces as aforesaid comprise an endless belt and a drum I or pulley rotating in contact therewith it is ;.found that if the face of the drum or pulley s rigid the angle of delivery will vary with ;the coarseness of the material it is desired 'to transfer, 2'. 6., other factors remaining the same, the coarser the material the greater the angle of delivery. This effect is undoubtedly due tothe fact that the face of the drum or pulley being rigid the efiective iameter of the same isv increased in propor- )lTlOIl to the coarseness of the material dealt vvwith, the result being that the belt is depressed to a greater or less extent between its centers so that the angle of the delivery chute formed between the same and the drum or pulley varies accordingly. At the same time, it will be ovbious that such increased depression of the belt places a heavy stress on the shaft of the drum or pulley and also on the shafts of the driving pulleys around which the belt passes, said stress varying with the coarseness of the material passing through the machine.

A further object of the invention comprehends therefore certain improvements whereby, inter alia, the angle of delivery remains constant or approximately sofor various materials of different grades or coarseness while, at the same time, the shafts and bearings of the machine are relieved of undue stresses which, as aforesaid, would 0therwise be created.

In order that the invention may be clearly understod and readily carried into practical effect reference is made indescribing the same to the accompanying drawings, in which: v V

Figure l is a diagram illustrating the principle of the invention according to one way of carrying out the same. 7

Figs. 2 and 3 represent front and side views of one practical embodiment of the invention.

Fig. i is a diagram of the drive employed in the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3 as seen from the inside of the cabin.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the drum and belt on the line 0-?) of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 represents a half sectional view of a brush which may be substituted for the drum.

Fig. 7 represents diagrammatically a modified form of apparatus embodying the present invention.

Fig. 8 represents a front view of the same illustrating the manner in which the surfaces of the two drun'is or brushes acconr modate themselves to the material passing between them.

Fig. 9 is partly a section and partly an elevation of one of the driving pulleys.

Figs. 10 and 11 are detail views and side elevation respectively, of the adjustable sprocket wheels.

Throughout the drawings like parts are designated by similar reference characters.

Referring to the construction shown in Fig. 1, an endless belt 2 passes around two pulleys 8, 8, one of which is driven at a certain speed. Upon and in contact with the upper run of the belt is arranged a drum l which either be free to revolve so as to be rotated by the belt, 'or positively driven at the same speed by suitable ge'iaring. The direction of rotation of the drum and pulleys is represented by the arrows in Fig. 1 and-is such that the upper run of the belt and the under surface of the drum move in the same direction and, at the same speed. The material to-be trajected is fed onto the upper run of the belt at the rear of the drum and is positively held without slip in contact with the belt by means of the drum and thereby acquires the same speed as the belt with the result that on emerging from between the belt and drum at the front of the latter it is thrown or traj'ected thereby at an initial speed equal to that of thesurfa'ce speed of "the belt and drum. I

The construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3 is that of an experimental machine and may obviously be varied in structural detail.

The drum 4 between which and the belt 2 the material is fed is preferably characterized by a yielding face or periphery so that notwithstanding any variation in the grade or coarseness of the material the eli'ective diameter of the drum or pulley remains constant.

To a limited extent this may be attained by forming the face of the drum or pulley with an annular opening or series of openings and covering the same with an endless sleeve 5 of some suitable flexible material such as belting.

For example, in the arrangement shown in Fig. 5 the drum may be built up of a pair of pulleys 6, 6 keyed at a suitable distance apart upon the shaft 7 and bridged by the sleeve 5. This sleeve is preferably firmly secured at 8 to one side of the drum the other side being left free. Where a pulley or drum constructed in this way is employed the active surface will readily yield as represented in Fig 5. to the material 9 to a certain extent so that for materials of a certain coarseness or grade the effective diameter of the drum or pulleys remains constant and consequently also the angle of delivery.

With a View, however, to render the machine of universal use with materials of widely varying grades or coarseness it is proposed as represented in Fig. 6 to construct the middle or active portion of the pulley in the form of a wire brush 10 the ends of the wire bristles being flush with the rigid marginal portions 6 of the pulley. The bristles are carried by and radiate from central boss 11 and would be of such a length and pitch or density as to temporarily absorb amongst themselves material particles of the maximum dimensions as well as those of the smallest so that in every case the effective diameter and hence the angle of delivery remains constant.

For the purpose of further reducing or minimizing shocks to and undue stresses on the various bearings and shafts of the machine arising from variations in the coarseness of the material passing through the same it is proposed according to this invention to also provide the faces of the driving pulleys 3, 3 around which the belt passes with an annular opening or series of openings which is or are bridged by the belt so that the center or active portion of the latter being unsupported by the driving pulleys is free to yield to a limited extent.

In view of the high speeds at which the machine is run it is proposed to inclose the pulleys at each side by disks 12 to avoid windage, said disks projecting beyond the peripheries of the pulleys so as to constitute shroud-hag therefor at each side.

The drive 4, is preferably di strib-.

uted positively and equally to the three shafts by means of an endless chain 13 which meshes with sprocket wheels 14-, 15, 16,011 the shafts of the-motor, and the two driving pulleys respectively, in such a manner as to drive all of the shafts at the same speed, the two driving pulleys being driven in one direction and the drum in the opposite direction.

A jockey or loosely mounted sprocket wheel 17 may, as shown, be employed to support the upper run of the chain and to provide for adjustment of the latter.

The complete machine with a cabin 18 for the electric motor 19 or other source of power may be mounted on a bogie or truck 20 so as to run on rails 21.

I According to a further development of the invention the belt may be dispensed with in which case the high speed surfaces may be constituted by theperipheral surfaces of two or more drums or brushes or of one or more drums and brushes arranged in each case in yielding contact and having peripheral speeds of the same magnitude and direction.

In order to facilitate feeding the material between two such drums or brushes, one of .them is preferably made of smaller diameter than th other. It will be obvious that these two drums or brushes may be geared together and that one of them may be moimted'direct upon the shaft of the motor or other source of power. Such an arrangement as will be understood provides a very compact and simple machine particularly ap plicable for use in confined spaces.

The drums or brushes or the drums and brushes being gearedtogether the angle of delivery may be readily varied by moving one of them relatively to and around the other, and for the purpose of adjusting the feed to correspond there may be employed in combination therewith a hinged or pivoted feeding chute which may be adapted either for independent adjustment or coupled up with the connections between the drums and brushes so as to be automatically adjusted to the required position for any desired inclination of delivery. The arrangement is represented graphically in Fig. 7 the smaller drum or brush 24: being driven from the shaft of the larger 25 by spur or chain gear. The feeding chute 26 is pivoted at 27 about which point it swings or can be adjusted according to the relative position of the two drums or brushes so that the material is always directed centrally between them.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaimis: i

1. Apparatus for the transference of loose material by trajection comprising in combination a pair of rotatable members geared 2. Apparatus for the transference of loose material by trajection comprising in combination a pair of rotatable members geared together, one of which consists of a drum having a normally fiat peripheral'surface adapted to yield under pressure, while the other consists of a cylindrical wire brush also havin a normall fiat eri heralsurface 3 7 said members being arranged in peripheral contact and driven in opposite directions at a hllgh speed so that at the l1ne of contact the two peripheral surfaces'have velocities of the same magnitude and direction, and a chute for feeding the material between them. 7

3. Apparatus for the transference of loose material by trajection comprising in combination a pair of rotatable members geared together each consisting of a cylindrical wire brush having a normally flat peripheral surface, said members being arranged in peripheral contact and driven in opposite directions at a high speed so that at the line of contact the two peripheral surfaces have velocities of the same magnitude and direction, and a chute for feeding the material between them. 4. Apparatus for the transference of loose material by trajection comprising in combination a pair of rotatable members geared together, one of which is adjustable angularly relatively to the other, said members having normally flat peripheral surfaces adapted to yield under pressure and being arranged in peripheral contact so that at the line of contact the two peripheral surfaces have velocities of the same magnitude and direction, and a pivoted chute for feeding the material between them.

CHARLES EDWARD BLYTH. Witnesses CHARLES H. FULLER, DOROTHY WHITE. 

